Mike Moser "I Say" Published April 5, 2002

Maggie was anything
but a wicked witch

The celebration of the return of the silver screen to the Palace Theatre this weekend, highlighted by appearances of two of the original cast of Munchkins, brought back to life a very fond memory of the moments I shared one special evening years ago with Margaret Hamilton.

At that time she was recognizable as Cora, the Maxwell House Coffee lady in television commercials, but for the ages she will always be remembered as the Wicked Witch of the West. I think she would chuckle at the idea of her legacy because being a wicked witch was anything but who Maggie Hamilton was.

I equally look forward to meeting Jerry Maren, a lollipop kid in the movie, and Karl Slover, first trumpeter, soldier and Sleepy Head in the film. They are among the seven surviving Munchkins out of the 124 actors who portrayed residents of Munchkinland in the film.
In 1978 I got to meet the real Margaret Hamilton, a gracious actress from Cleveland, OH, who completed college studies to be a kindergarten teacher but whose looks were so deliciously menacing and intimidating that she made a career out of being cast for camp effect.

On that night Maggie, as she was called by family and friends, was one of around 15 Ohioans tapped to receive the Governor's Award, a prestigious honor sponsored by the Ohio Press Association and presented by the governor in office to Ohioans who had excelled in their respective fields.

On the dias that night with Margaret Hamilton was a who's who of Buckeye elite including the late Columnist Erma Bombeck, comedienne Phyllis Diller, New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner and Yankees catcher Thurman Munson (who were feuding at the time), golfer Tom Weiskoph, Minnesota Viking Jim Marshall, a tennis player whose name I forgot, a scientist, a Catholic Bishop from Cincinnati and a nun from Cleveland.

Ironically, three months later Munson was killed in a plane crash.

Also recognized was a football coach from Ohio State University named Woody Hayes, who started out with his 15-minute speech giving us a history lesson, relating it to today, and he became so angered during the course of the lesson that he ended up pounding the podium for emphasis. We listened in silence ...

After the meal I got to spend some time with Margaret Hamilton. She was delighted that to learn that my firstborn child, born just a couple of months earlier, was named Maggie. She then sat down and wrote a note to my oldest daughter which we still cherish today, starting out, "My wee little Maggie ... "

We talked about The Wizard of Oz and she was delightfully philosophical about the role. The one regret, she told me, was the effect the role had on children as far as their interaction with her. Maggie loved children and that is evidenced by her wanting to be a kindergarten teacher. She just absolutely loved children.

Oz was her 26th film and she was quite philosophical about the roles of Miss Gulch and The Wicked Witch of the West. "I don't look on it as any great shakes in acting. It's not subtle or restrained. It isn't any of the things you like to think might apply to your acting."

Yet, she loved the movie "because it is such a beautiful film. I don't think any of us knew how lovely at first," she told me and other writers that evening. When she spoke of the scene near the end when the Wizard gives gifts to the Oz visitors, her eyes would glisten. "Frank (Morgan) was just like that as a person," she said.

She never spoke or complained about nearly losing her life, or becoming permanently disfigured, when she was burned after her green copper makeup caught fire because an elevator that was supposed to lower her below the stage malfunctioned.

Interestingly, in the '70s she appeared as Cora in the Maxwell House Coffee commercial during a showing of The Wizard of Oz.

She ended up performing in 77 films, made 20 TV appearances and always stayed true to her roots in the theater by returning to Cleveland to her beloved Cleveland Play House. Her love of children led her to repeat appearances on Mister Rogers Neighborhood and Sesame Street.

She died of a heart attack at the age of 83.

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Mike Moser is the editor of the Crossville Chronicle. His column is published periodically on Fridays.